University of Illinois Press
Chapter Title: Music in War, Music for Peace: Experiences in Applied Ethnomusicology
Chapter Author(s): Svanibor Pettan
Book Title: Music and Conflict
Book Editor(s): JOHN MORGAN O’CONNELL, SALWA EL-SHAWAN CASTELO-BRANCO
Published by: University of Illinois Press. (2010)
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/j.ctt1x74rt.18
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms
University of Illinois Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to Music and Conflict
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
chapter 9
Music in War, Music for Peace:
Experiences in Applied Ethnomusicology
Svanibor Pettan
Peace is not an absence of war; it is a virtue, a state of mind, a
disposition for benevolence, confidence and justice.
—Spinoza
Most people would perhaps agree with the seventeenth-century Dutch philoso-
pher Baruch Spinoza, whose words were convincingly interpreted by the Ameri-
can actor Martin Sheen, one of the artists featured on Nenad Bach’s recording
Can We Go Higher? (1992), which was produced in response to the devastation
caused by the military in Bach’s native Croatia. Yet the fact is wars and other
violent conflicts stimulate musical creativity and thus call for the attention of
researchers. For instance, the French Revolution during the eighteenth century
inspired the creation of more than 2,500 songs (Jean-Louis Tournier, cited in
Brécy 1988). In a similar fashion, the American Civil War during the nineteenth
century (see Crawford 1977; Cornelius 2004) and the First and the Second World
War during the twentieth century (see Smith 2003) also witnessed the rich pro-
duction of war-related songs. Even today, the so-called war on terrorism in the
United States has its musical dimension (see Helms and Phleps 2004; Ritter and
Daughtry 2007). In addition to specific publications devoted to the topic, such as
Music and War (Arnold 1993), there are specialized volumes that consider music
and war in a specific territory (for instance, in the former Yugoslavia, see Pettan
1998; in Iraq, see Pieslak 2009), sometimes even examining the issue through
the lens of a single genre (for example, through country music; see Wolfe and
Akenson 2005).
“Music” and “war” increasingly join together in a variety of contexts. For in-
stance, the Italian harpsichord player Roberto Loreggian presented a concert pro-
gram titled “Les caractères de la guerre,” which consisted of compositions about
different battles. One of these concerts took place in Ljubljana (Slovenia) in 2005.
The theme “Music, Dance, and War” was highlighted as the first of five themes at
the Thirty-eighth World Conference of the International Council for Traditional
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
178 svanibor pettan
Music, held in Sheffield, England, in August 2005. An international symposium
devoted to the topic, titled “Music and War: ‘Inter arma silent musae’ or ‘Arma
virumque cano’?” was convened in Brno (Czech Republic) in September 2005.
The American musicologist Hilde Binford also introduced a university course
titled “Music of War” to the curriculum of the Moravian College in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, during spring semester 2006.
The increased interest in music and war, of course, does not imply a scholarly
fascination with the relationship between these two concepts. Rather, it reflects
a growing awareness of the significance of music and war in academic circles. In
this respect, to view music as an instrument of terror is equally as valid as to view
music as a form of art; some scholars even consider music a weapon (see Brenner
1992; Cusick 2006). The organizers of a relevant panel at the Thirty-seventh World
Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music, which took place
in Fuzhou and Quanzhou, China, in 2004, suggested that an “ethnomusicology
of terror” be recognized.1 The realization that music is a powerful tool that can
be (and in practice is) used toward good as well as bad ends in war provides a
starting point for this essay, which explores the ways in which music is employed
creatively in different ethnomusicological projects.
I would suggest that the idea of this volume is not to question whether scholars
should break away from a position of contemplative self-sufficiency, the so-called
ivory tower of academia. Rather, I argue that they should do so efficiently, em-
ploying their knowledge and understanding of music in the broadest sense for
the betterment of humanity. In this respect, this essay is meant to contribute to
the growing field most commonly known as applied ethnomusicology. The two
projects presented here, the project Azra and the project Kosovo Roma, employ
several concepts derived from applied scholarship. These ideas draw on a rel-
evant theoretical precedent in the field of anthropology, where concepts such as
adjustment, administration, action, and advocacy are particularly pertinent (see
Spradley and McCurdy 2000). They are also informed by practices in applied
ethnomusicology, such as developing new performance frames, feeding back
musical models to communities that created them, providing communities with
access to strategic models and techniques, and developing structural solutions
to broad problems (see Sheehy 1992). Both projects are related, although in dif-
ferent ways, to the succession of wars that erupted in the territories of what was
Yugoslavia. They show how music was used to divide communities in war and
how it can be used to reunite communities in peace. One of the projects was
conceptualized far from the war-torn territories, in Norway, while the other was
meant to take place in the former Yugoslav province of Kosovo. In both cases,
music was treated as a powerful tool, able to empower minority groups and at
the same time to enlighten majority groups.
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Music in War, Music for Peace 179
The Discord of Yugoslavia
Since this essay is based primarily on field research conducted among people
originating in the former Yugoslavia, it makes sense to introduce briefly the cir-
cumstances that led to the violent end of this multinational country at the edge of
Central European, Mediterranean, and Balkan geographical and cultural spaces.
Much literature has been devoted to various aspects of the wars that exploded
during the 1990s, with the majority of sources pointing to an imbalance in the cen-
tralization of political power within Yugoslavia as a key element in understanding
the ensuing conflicts. In fact, the opposing character of power sharing between
Serbian leaders, on the one hand, and the Croatian, the Slovenian, and the other
national leaders, on the other, was never settled, that is, neither prior to the first
unification of Southern Slavs into capitalist Yugoslavia following World War I nor
before the creation of communist Yugoslavia, which emerged from World War
II. The hegemonic aspirations of Serbia, openly expressed by Slobodan Milošević
(1941–2006), clashed with the uncompromising agendas of new national leaders
in other parts of Yugoslavia, setting the stage for an escalation of conflict.
Without doubt, the members of various national groups once encompassed
by Yugoslavia retained their senses of distinctiveness for most of the twentieth
century. These were rooted in geographic locations and internalized influences
from their respective neighbors. They included the distinctive historical legacies
of the Habsburg and Ottoman empires, to which they were subjects for centuries.
In addition to several other criteria, they also included religious and linguistic
specifics as well as the important rural versus urban distinction. The determina-
tion of the Yugoslav authorities to overcome substantial differences within the
country during the capitalist and communist periods varied in intensity over
the decades. As part of this process, teachers and promoters of music were sent
away from home to work in other parts of Yugoslavia; folklore ensembles were
encouraged to perform mixed programs featuring songs and dances from all the
constitutive republics; and music in the media was directed for political reasons
to foster “brotherhood and unity” among the diverse ethnic groups within the
state.
In the 1980s, following the death of President Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), the
principal authority in Yugoslavia for four decades, music not only reflected rising
nationalisms; in many instances it preceded and inspired social developments
and political decisions. The gradual loosening of political pressure enabled the
appearance of previously forbidden songs in the streets of Yugoslavia even before
the crucial changes that followed, that is, the split of the Yugoslav Communist
League in 1990; the first multiparty elections in Slovenia and Croatia in 1991;
and the subsequent armed conflicts. Some musicians—in striking contrast to
ethnologists and cultural anthropologists (cf. Rihtman-Auguštin 1992)—were able
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
180 svanibor pettan
to foresee the unfortunate events that were to come and attempted to use music
to prevent the looming catastrophe. Such musical groups included the Bosnian
rock band Bijelo Dugme and the Croatian Chamber Orchestra. However, many
musicians also employed music to promulgate with pride nationalist sentiments
(see Pettan 1998).2
Studies of the wars in the territories of the former Yugoslavia from an eth-
nographic and/or a musical perspective were written both by scholars from
the inside (for example, Čale Feldman, Prica, and Senjković 1993; Čolović 1993;
Jambrešić Kirin and Povrzanović 1996; Mijatović 2003) and by those from the
outside (for example, Bringa 1995; Gordy 1999; Port 1998). The extent of destruc-
tion and the intensity of human suffering in the wars encouraged the rereading
of old sources about music and dance that had potential to help one understand
contemporary cultural polarizations (Ceribašić 1998) and ethnic claims of certain
musical genres (Petrović 1995) and particular musical instruments (Bonifačić
1995; Žanić 1998). New subjects were now studied as a result of political changes,
including the study of a religious dimension in folk music (Bezić 1998) and
music censorship (Muršič 1999; Pettan 2001a). Other areas involved individual
academic interests in new paradigms such as gender studies (Ceribašić 1995)
and political anthropology (Muršič 2000; Zebec 1995). A number of studies
focused on the wars of the 1990s, providing valuable evidence about musical
life in a besieged city (Hadžihusejnović-Valašek 1998), the torture of prisoners
with music (Pettan 1998), and the musical identity of refugees (Golemović 2004).
When it became possible, a group of ethnomusicologists from various parts
of the former Yugoslavia met together at a conference roundtable and jointly
published their conclusions about music and war in Muzika, a Sarajevo-based
journal (Blažeković et al. 2001).3
My personal experience as a researcher made me additionally sensitive to the
destinies of individual communities in ethnically mixed regions during the war.
In particular, my study of the musical traditions of Croats and Serbs in the Banija/
Banovina region of central Croatia during the 1980s was especially poignant. I
remembered the inhabitants of the ethnically distinct villages as culturally re-
lated neighbors, whose senses of identity, cultural practices, and mutual relations
received appropriate attention (see Ivančan 1986; Jambrešić 1992; Muraj 1992).4
Political propaganda in the name of mutually incompatible national interests
exaggerated ethnic differences and in many cases efficiently turned neighbors
into enemies. The initial military success of the Serbian irregulars backed by the
Yugoslav People’s Army forced ethnic Croats to leave their villages during the
“ethnic cleansing” campaign of 1991 and 1992. A few years later, the military op-
erations of the Croatian Army forced ethnic Serbs to escape from their villages.
When thinking about musicians, who now employed machine guns instead of
tamburica plucked lutes, I could not help feeling that all individuals involved
were victims. As I wrote in a 1996 article, “the first and foremost goal should be
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Music in War, Music for Peace 181
to teach people not to adopt hatred along ethnic lines in spite of the suffering they
experienced just for belonging to the ‘wrong’ ethnic group. The main paradox
of this war is that once the victims adopt hatred along ethnic lines, they in fact
start working for those who committed crimes and whose intention was to make
inter-ethnic coexistence impossible” (Pettan 1996, 255). I suggested that inter-
ethnic commonalities, particularly among neighbors, needed to be emphasized
in an effort to counteract the politically motivated exaggeration of interethnic
differences and to enable the reestablishment of multiple identities, characteristic
of peaceful times.
My interest in applied ethnomusicology stemmed from my wish to understand
the reality of “war at home,” especially the potential of the field to explain the
war-peace continuum. Thanks to residencies in Croatia, where I was born, and
Slovenia, where I live; to my principal research, which was conducted in the
disputed province of Kosovo; to both professional connections and friendships
in the other territories of the former Yugoslav territories; and to a broad range of
relevant educational and research experiences and contacts abroad, I was able to
internalize a variety of perspectives, shape them into projects, and check empiri-
cally the validity of applied ethnomusicology in dealing with concrete problems.
Although linked to the specific circumstances of the discord of Yugoslavia, these
projects, I hope, will inspire similar undertakings in applied ethnomusicology
elsewhere in the world.
The Azra Project
The Azra project was a case in applied ethnomusicology that brought together
two very different groups of people: Bosnians and Norwegians. In cooperation
with the Norwegian scholar Kjell Skyllstad, the project was undertaken in Nor-
way during the 1990s with reference to eleven thousand refugees from the war-
torn homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina whom Norway agreed to accept on
a temporary basis. In particular, cultural sensitivities and cultural differences
contributed to misunderstandings on several levels both within and between
the two communities. The project had two objectives: to strengthen Bosnian
cultural identity among the refugees, and to stimulate mutually beneficial cross-
cultural communication between Bosnians and Norwegians. It also sought to
help the refugees achieve some of their social and cultural needs while residents
in Norway and to prepare them for their eventual return to a multiethnic Bosnia
and Herzegovina.
The project involved three related groups of activities:
1. Research into the cultural identity and the musical activities of Bosnian
refugees in Norway.
2. Education for both Norwegians and Bosnians in Norway
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
182 svanibor pettan
i. by providing classes at the University of Oslo on relevant musical topics
(“Music in Exile,” “Ethnomusicology”) and
ii. by organizing special lectures in refugee centers on relevant musical
topics (“Music of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” “Music and War on the
Territories of Former Yugoslavia”).
3. Music making within the Azra Ensemble.
Each of these activities was designed to benefit the others. Data collected in the
course of research were utilized for educational and musical purposes. Educa-
tion promoted research, which in turn served as a basis for music making. Music
making was seen as a recognized extension of ethnomusicological research that
had educational value. The Azra Ensemble was central to the Azra project. It
emerged from the “Music in Exile” and “Ethnomusicology” classes held at the
University of Oslo. The following is a short chronology.
Norwegian students received some information about the culture and music of
Bosnia and Herzegovina through my classes at the University of Oslo. They also
learned to perform some Bosnian music. As soon as I realized that some of them
were exceptionally enthusiastic about the class topic, I took them to the Bosnian
club in Oslo, where I was doing research and where an ensemble composed of
Bosnian refugee and immigrant musicians played on a regular basis. After being
introduced to each other, Norwegian students and Bosnian musicians attempted to
play together some tunes originating from the former Yugoslavia. The enthusiastic
response to the creative interaction of these two groups called for a continuation of
these activities, resulting in the formation of a joint Bosnian-Norwegian ensemble.
I insisted that the ensemble should be based on equality, with the two parties per-
forming a mixed repertoire of Bosnian and Norwegian musics, and with Bosnians
and Norwegians teaching each other and learning from each other.
The rehearsals gradually led to the first public performance of Azra that took
place in the headquarters of the Bosnian community in Oslo. The predominantly
Bosnian audience rated the performance highly. A week later, the ensemble gave
a performance for professors and students at the University of Oslo. This perfor-
mance was a major success and received media attention in Norway. The next
important step was a performance in a refugee camp. On the recommendation
of the University of Oslo, Azra gave many concerts in refugee camps all over
Norway. After a successful performance in the Norwegian Theater in Oslo, Azra
earned wider public attention and support. Since then, it has performed at various
public gatherings (for example, fund-raising concerts) and has received greater
attention from the media.
The aims of Azra were to offer all Bosnians, regardless of their ethnoreligious
affiliation, music with which they could identify, and to gain and retain the public’s
interest in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially to maintain a continued concern
for its fate, including the refugee problem.
To create a truly Bosnian musical concept, it was necessary to consider cir-
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Music in War, Music for Peace 183
cumstances from the decades prior to the war as well as those directly related to
the war. In the past, it had been important that musicians of all ethnic groups in
Bosnia and Herzegovina “shared in the preservation, evolution, and affirmation”
of rural secular music and of “sevdalinka and other urban musical genres, consid-
ering them to be a kind of ecumenical urban Bosnian-Herzegovinian folk music,
or simply ‘their’ music” (Petrović 1993). On the other hand, particular genres
and instruments that were shared by all major Bosnian ethnic groups before the
war gradually became associated with a specific ethnic group. For example, epic
songs accompanied by the gusle (a bowed lute) were often equated exclusively
with ethnic Serbs during the war (Petrović 1994). In the project, such cases also
had to be carefully taken into consideration.
The repertoire and instrumentation of Azra reflected Bosnian urban culture.
Well-known and carefully selected Bosnian songs that were beloved across ethnic
boundaries described scenes and topics to which Bosnians were expected to have
an emotional relationship. The instrumentation was ethnically neutral; a singer was
accompanied by accordion, clarinet, flute, guitar, and bass. There was a period of
experimentation with rural music of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which—contrary
to my expectations—ended with the musicians’ claiming that refugee audiences
did not appreciate it. A preference for urban music was supported by the following
reasons: first, Bosnian audience members of rural origin favored urban Bosnian
music, but those of urban origin disliked rural music. Even the musicians, mostly
of urban origin, did not like the idea of performing rural music. Second, urban
music because of its musical structure, was better suited to portraying Bosnians
to Norwegians as “fellow Europeans.”5 The fact that the ensemble also performed
Norwegian music acknowledged a respect for the host community, building a
bridge of understanding and compassion between Bosnian refugees and the Nor-
wegian citizens. The message of the ensemble, seen as a symbolic representation of
the social context, was clear: we respect and appreciate each other, there is much
we can learn from each other, and we enjoy being together.
The first evaluation of the project occurred in September 1994, six months after
it was initiated. This assessment clearly indicated some positive movement toward
strengthening Bosnian cultural identity among the refugees and toward nurturing
mutual understanding with Norwegians. Circumstances prior to, in the course
of, and after mediation were documented by audio and audiovisual means. In-
terviews and questionnaires provided encouraging data with regard to all three
groups of activities: research, education, and music making. Research broadened
and deepened knowledge and understanding of (musical) life under special refuge-
related circumstances. Education brought Bosnians and Norwegians closer together,
fruitfully augmenting the basic geographic, historical, political, and demographic
knowledge of each group and counteracting deficiencies in these areas. Lectures for
mixed audiences in refugee camps and cultural centers were especially effective.
In comparison to research and education, one can conclude that the third part
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
184 svanibor pettan
of the model, music making, achieved satisfactory results in the most direct way.
Mutually beneficial communication was established first within the ensemble
and then through its performances before Bosnian and Norwegian audiences
throughout Norway. The opinions of the musicians were consistent with those
collected from the audience members. Sead Krnjić, the singer in Azra, said: “This
is very important for our people from Bosnia and Herzegovina. While making
music for them I feel . . . that we are opening again their souls and hearts. . . .
After all that pain they went through, I think that sevdah makes them alive again.
. . . I hope, we can keep them alive here until the time comes for them to return
to their homes” (author’s interview with Sead Krnjić, Oslo, 1995). The ensemble
certainly has accomplished its mission. It has affected the lives of many people
during a difficult time, and it has encouraged creative cooperation between dif-
ferent groups as a valuable expression of humanity.
The Kosovo Roma Project
My visit to Kosovo in late 1999 made me aware of the desperate situation of the
Roma (Gypsies), whose musical activities were the focus of my research. This
visit occurred eight years after the beginning of wars that marked the end of
the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and that also marked the end of my
doctoral fieldwork in that province. In the course of the 1990s, the Roma became
Figure 9.1a: Azra in concert. Photo: Svanibor Pettan.
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Figure 9.1b: Azra in concert (detail). Photo: Svanibor Pettan.
Figure 9.2: Poster announcing
a humanitarian concert.
Photo: Svanibor Pettan.
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
186 svanibor pettan
the silent victims of the conflict between the ethnic Albanian majority population
and the Serbs, a minority group that was determined to retain political supremacy
in Kosovo. The great majority of the Roma did not want to participate in this ter-
ritorial dispute. The logic for their reluctance was simple: there was nothing for
them to gain and much for them to lose, regardless of the final outcome of the
conflict. The NATO bombing campaign between March and June 1999 forced the
withdrawal of Serbian troops from Kosovo and enabled the return of ethnic Alba-
nians, hitherto victims of Serbian “ethnic cleansing,” to their homes. After Kosovo
became a UN protectorate, the international peacekeeping forces in Kosovo were
unable to protect Serbian and other non-Albanian civilians from retaliation for
alleged collaboration with the Serbian radicals. As a result, several settlements of
the Kosovo Roma were destroyed. In 1999, Roma who had not left their homes
lived in fear for their lives. The obvious question that entered my mind was how
to help them. Soon afterward, I decided to create a humanitarian project based
on my research experience in Kosovo, fieldwork that covered the period between
1984 and 1991.
Romani musicians in Kosovo had traditionally operated as cultural mediators,
living in a society that (at the time of my research) could be described as multi-
ethnic, multireligious, and multilingual.6 They also functioned in a society where
there were important distinctions between the rural and the urban spheres and
between the private and the public domains. Due to their ability and willingness
to perform a wide variety of musics, they enjoyed the status of superior specialists
and successfully served a broad range of audiences. My research concerned the
interaction between these musicians and their customers, focusing in particular
on the musical creativity of this group, a focus sharply contrasting with that of
music folklorists, who were generally interested in the older strata of the repertoire
associated solely with the given (in most cases their own) national group. For
me, this concentration on the established ability of the Roma to cross musical
boundaries seemed most appropriate. In the course of ethnographic work, I was
in a position to see and examine the ways in which the Roma brought neighbors
from different backgrounds together through their flexible manipulation of musi-
cal styles and through their skillful musicianship. Let me demonstrate this with
some representative examples.
Only Romani musicians knew how to accompany horse races on shawms and
drums; these events were organized by ethnic Muslims but were also attended
by other ethnic and religious groups in the mountainous and rural areas of
southern Kosovo. Again, it was not at all surprising that a Romani brass band
performed Turkish melodies at wedding celebrations for ethnic Croats and that
Romani female vocalists—accompanied by frame drums—sang songs in Alba-
nian at Romani circumcision feasts. Further, Romani ensembles—small bands
of Muslim musicians—went from house to house to express Easter good wishes
in Christian neighborhoods, both in the Orthodox and the Catholic urban
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Music in War, Music for Peace 187
quarters. Romani clarinetists were prominent in predominantly Albanian and
Turkish ensembles. During my research, I was able to record Romani musicians
switching spontaneously from one local language to another, even within the
same song. It is worth noting that the principal genre of Kosovo Roma, the tal-
lava, was for the most part sung in Albanian. In sum, these examples emphasize
a specific attitude toward music making, a position that differentiated Romani
musicians from other musicians in Kosovo, who tended to stick to the musical
frames of their own communities.
The zest for novelty among Romani musicians was most evident in the realms
of repertoire and instrumentation. Always a step ahead of their customers, Ro-
mani musicians were constantly revitalizing their repertoires. In addition to
introducing new elements from regional popular musics, they also performed
Indian film tunes and sang songs ranging from American soap opera themes to
“Lambada.” Further, they introduced several new musical instruments to Kosovo
(such as the saxophone and the electronic accordion), usually arguing in favor
of more modern options with customers.
My experience of life in a Romani family of musicians allowed me to document
several events that took place not only in domestic and communal contexts but
also in a variety of venues outside the Romani community involving musicians
on professional assignments. My recordings, using different media, enabled me
to compile a project composed of four complementary parts in four different
formats. These parts included the picture exhibition Rom Musicians: Scenes from
Kosovo (1998), the video documentary Kosovo through the Eyes of Local Rom
(Gypsy) Musicians (1999), the CD-ROM Kosovo Roma (2001), and the book Rom
Musicians in Kosovo: Interaction and Creativity (2002).7 Dedicated to the Roma
of Kosovo, these materials clearly referred to a musical life that in the meantime
had ceased to exist.
They had two principal purposes. First, in the short term, they were used to raise
awareness and even some funds to support the physical and cultural survival of
the Roma in Kosovo. Second, in the long term, they were employed to recognize
the legacy of Romani musicians from Kosovo through the wide dissemination of
information and as a valuable contribution to knowledge. This legacy proved to be
a powerful metaphor for coexistence and, at the same time, a suitable alternative
to the ongoing inclination toward ethnic segregation.
In contrast to the Azra project (which was structured and controllable), the
Kosovo Roma project was a case of advocacy in which scholars made the neces-
sary data available to be used in the public domain. Possession of these data had
unquestionable potential to assist decision makers in their attempts to improve
the circumstances for the Roma and for people in Kosovo in general. Almost
everyone who contributed to any of the four parts of the project understood its
importance and humanitarian value, providing services without the expectation
of financial reward. Thanks to a favorable reception of some of the publications,
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
188 svanibor pettan
the project has reached a wide variety of audiences ranging from youth clubs in
the former Yugoslavia to university classrooms in America. However, the limited
commercial distribution of these products has resulted in limited financial gains
accruing to the Roma.
Unfortunately, one of the major initiatives designed to benefit the Kosovo Roma
never progressed. Representatives of the OSCE (Organization for Security and
Co-operation in Europe) and the UNMIK (United Nations Mission in Kosovo)
did not agree to purchase any of the publications, a purchase that would have
provided international peacekeeping forces in Kosovo with important knowledge
and understanding while at the same time supporting the Roma financially. This
rejection was followed by another. Despite the best intentions on behalf of sev-
eral officials, the subproject that was proposed for the “World Day of Roma” (in
April 2003), titled “Roma as Musical Mediators in Kosovo: An Introduction to
Multicultural Music Education,” was refused.
Organized as a workshop, the proposed initiative was meant to bring together
some forty teachers from schools in the city of Prizren, educators who were rep-
resentatives of different ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups in Kosovo. The
subproject was designed to introduce teachers to the creative possibilities of ap-
plying Romani musicianship to the concept of social reintegration. The proposed
event was planned in active cooperation with members of the Romani community
with whom I had already conducted doctoral research. The goal of the subproject
was to enable participating educators to learn how to promote coexistence and
cooperation by incorporating Romani musicians in the school curriculum, thereby
advancing the visibility and promoting the appreciation of the Romani commu-
nity in Kosovo. The objectives of the gathering were (1) to familiarize educators
with the cultural history of the Roma in Kosovo, (2) to introduce educators to the
theory of multiculturalism, (3) to relate multicultural ideals to cultural models
already existing in Kosovo, and (4) to provide educators with specific teaching
tools and methods. It was anticipated that the format of the presentations would
gradually develop from multimedia lectures, through participatory workshops to
live performances.
* * *
It is certainly true that “public ethnomusicologists testify to an enormous num-
ber of successful interventions, public projects that worked, and for which the
world is better off as a result” (Titon 1992, 320). The war-peace continuum is a
particularly suitable ground for rethinking the “barriers between academic and
applied work” and for reminding ourselves about ethical responsibilities in regard
to those whose music and lives we study (cf. Sheehy 1992). In particular, recent
projects by respected scholars who have enriched the field of ethnomusicology
with in-depth knowledge about musics in Afghanistan (that is, by John Baily,
Veronica Doubleday, and Mark Slobin) strongly testify to this ethical concern.
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Figure 9.3: DVD cover for
Kosovo through the Eyes of
Local Rom (Gypsy) Musicians
(Pettan 1999).
Figure 9.4: CD-ROM cover for
Kosovo Roma (Pettan 2001b).
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Figure 9.5: Book cover of Rom
Musicians in Kosovo (Pettan
2002). Image used with permis-
sion from Egyed Laszlo.
Figure 9.6: Poster
for Rom Musicians:
Scenes from Kosovo
exhibition (Pet-
tan 2002). Photo:
Svanibor Pettan.
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Music in War, Music for Peace 191
An increasing number of projects question the ultimate goal of scholarship;
that is, they employ ethnomusicological knowledge for the improvement of the
human condition in war-related circumstances. On the one hand, one can design
projects by controlling the parameters of execution and by evaluating the results,
as in Azra. On the other hand, one can chose to empower others by providing
relevant ethnomusicological data, tools, and methods, as in the Kosovo Roma
project. As demonstrated in this essay, good intentions and convincing arguments
are not necessarily sufficient to achieve the full realization of a proposed ideal.
One of the projects was implemented, and its validity was tested in practice, while
the other—especially its educational aspect—so far remains unchecked.
The two very different projects share one important feature: both concern the
consequences of the wars. Both occupy a position on the war-peace continuum,
suggesting that human lives and values have already been lost. In this respect, the
projects are chiefly involved with rehabilitation, this in spite of their aspirations.
My attention is thus focused on education and its potential to prevent military
conflicts. Efficient education for peace should include views about music, a posi-
tion that differs in many respects from the predominant and exclusive interpre-
tation of music as an art. Ethnomusicology as a field, with mature experiences
from a rich variety of world contexts, is in a position to initiate a much broader
conceptualization of music in education. In this way, it could considerably con-
tribute to global peace initiatives.
Notes
1. The panel discussion “An Ethnomusicology of Terror? Transnational Perspectives on
the Music of September 11th” featured presentations by J. Martin Daughtry on Russian
Americans and Jonathan Ritter on Peru.
2. I am grateful to an anonymous reviewer for reminding me of the following suitable
reference at this point: “Music is prophecy. Its styles and economic organization are ahead
of the rest of society because it explores, much faster than material reality can, the entire
range of possibilities in a given code. It makes audible the new world that will gradually
become visible, that will impose itself and regulate the order of things” (Attali 1985, 11).
3. The roundtable discussion “Music in the Context of Recent Rapid Social and Political
Change in Albania, the Territories of the Former Yugoslavia, and Central and Eastern
Europe as a Whole” took place at a meeting of the International Musicological Society in
Budapest (2000).
4. My own fieldwork resulted in a series of radio programs and two LP records featuring
the musics of four villages populated by ethnic Croats and four others by ethnic Serbs.
5. “Fellow Europeans,” rather than as alien “tribesmen who have to exterminate each
other, so that the war can come to an end,” as an American politician arrogantly referred
to them.
6. During the 1980s, one could list some seven ethnic affiliations (Albanian, Serbian,
ethnic Muslim, Romani, Montenegrin, Turkish, and Croatian), three religious group-
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
192 svanibor pettan
ings (Islamic, Orthodox Christian, and Roman Catholic), and four linguistic affiliations
(Albanian, Serbo-Croatian, Turkish, and Romani).
7. The picture exhibition with comments in Romani, Slovene, and English was spon-
sored by the Slovene Ethnographic Museum in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The video documen-
tary with narration in English was edited and sponsored by the Society of Friends of Soft
Landing, Slovenia. It will be published with an accompanying booklet by the Society
for Ethnomusicology in 2010. The CD-ROM with a booklet in Slovene and English,
audio examples, photographs, video examples, lyrics, and two essays in English was
sponsored by the Society for Popular Music Research and Nika Records, Slovenia. The
bilingual book (in Hungarian and English) Roma muzsikusok koszovóban: Kölcsönhatás
és kreativitás / Rom Musicians in Kosovo: Interaction and Creativity was published by
the Institute for Musicology of the Hungarian Academy for Sciences.
This content downloaded from 151.62.112.152 on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 14:25:05 UTC
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
